Solvent molecules have a significant impact on the mechanism of the gold(I)-catalyzed hydration of alkynes as they enable an efficient proton transfer step. As an alternative to such a water-assisted proton transfer, the counterion can serve as a proton shuttle. However, it seems likely that solvent molecules play a vital role for the overall reaction mechanism in either case.
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Krauter et al. (2010) studied this question.
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